Deflector for vertical mixing machines



Jan. 3, 1 939. w; F. DEHUFF 2,142,953

'DEFLECTOR FOR VERTICAL MIXING MACHINES I Filed Dec. 10, 1957 INVENTORWALTER E DEHUFF results have arisen: vlz,, reference character D, and isshown in combina- 25 First, the length of time consumed is comtion witha bowl l2, supported in a base I4 of mercially objectionable; knowntype, in a vertical mixing machine of the Second, and by far the moreimportant, the general type of which an example is illustrated 30construction of the foam, in the end product, and described in theapplication of De Huff for when the batch should be finished, accordingto United States Letters Patent, S rial N- 73,853, 30

accepted practice, is not as uniform as it should filed April 11, 1936.be, owing to the fact that the first foam created The vertical mixer asherein illustrated, in by the heater or whipper has been'whipped tooFig. 1, includes a complete head l which carries 35 long in order tobuild up all of the liquid or semia heater or whipping device l3, andowing to the liquid into a proper foam construction. fact that as thebeater l3 rotates about its own 35 Such undesired results have proveddetriaxis it is also revolved, in the direction of the mental to thefinished product, from the standarrow in Fig. about e e e al axis of thepoint of economical commercial production, as beater, which coincideswith the center of the 40 they have caused one portion of the batch tobe circle also bearing an arrow in Fig. 2, it follows 40 Patented Jan.3, 1939 nnmc'ron. FOB. vnn'nou. mxmo monmns Walter F. Dehufl, Glen Rock,Pa., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation ofNew Jersey Application December 10, 1937, Serial No. 179,036

2 Claims. (Cl. 259-1) This invention relates to a mixing machine, Thisimproved deflector element is found, in

especially to a mixer of the vertical type, and is practice, to deflectthe revolving liquids in such a more particularly useful when embodiedin such manner that the foam structure is built up unia machine in whichfoam batches are whipped formly throughout the complete mixing opera- 5up from liquid or semi-liquid materials, although tion, and its use hasmaterially lessened the time my invention is intended to be used inanyfleld required to secure uniform construction of foam. 6 for which itis adapted by the nature of the im- The advantages of the invention willbe set provements herein disclosed. forth more at length in thedescription of the In whipping up foam batches in vertical mixers,accompanying drawing, in which like characters 10 a diiliculty inoperation arises from the liquid or of reference have been applied tosimilar parts 10 semi-liquid character of the ingredients, which in theseveral views which make up the drawing, causes them to collect at apoint remote from the in which: beater, owing to the beater-inducedcentrifugal Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation, taken on the force whichcauses a swirling action of the maline il of Fig. 2, of a mixing machineof the x5 te'rial around the inside of the bowl, making it vertical typshowing how the deflector is asrather diiiicult for the heater or whipoperating sembled with the bowl; upon this material to collect it andto-change the Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in materialfrom its liquid state to the desired foamy Fig. 1; and structure. Fig. 3is a detail view, in rear elevation, of a The above-described conditionis more apparent deflector element in the construction of which 6 inproportion as the diameter of the bowl is inthe present invention hasbeen embodied, the creased, and it follows naturally that the over-allsame being shown separately, time required to convert the liquid orsemi-liquid In a now-preferred embodiment of the invenmaterial into thedesired condition of foam intion, selected for illustration anddescription, the creases to a point where two very undesirable deflectorelement is designated generally by the over-worked, until the lastportion of the batch naturally that inasmuch as the beater rotatesshould be properly worked. at the rate of approximately four turns forevery After extended research and experimentation revolution of thebeater bodily around the aforewith variously modified forms of heatersand said axis of the beater head, the material being whippers, in theeffort to trap this swirling liquid, mixed takes up the directionoutlined by the 45 it was decided not to pursue further such an seriesof arrows in Fig. 2. unfruitful course of procedure, and the present Thetendency to swirling action is caused by applicant conceived the idea.of providing a the above two motions, constituting a planetary deflectordevice, comprising, in its now-premotion of the blade l3 around the sunmotion ferred form, a light element which can be readily of the head. 50slipped onto the edge of the bowl, and removed To counteract theaforesaid swirling action, in therefrom, and which, when in operativeposition, pursuance of the invention, provision is made of will protrudeinto a position designed to cause a deflector element D, which is shownin its the material, as it swirls, to be deflected from a operativeposition in full lines at III in Fig. 1, as fixed path into the path ofthe beater. while the beater I3 is shown, in full lines, in itsnearestproaimitytothedeflectorD,andbydotand-dash lines in its mostremote position from saiddeflartorD.

'lhe deflector, in the form illustrated. consists as a unitary structurestamped up from sheet metal, being formed with an operating part itwhich comprises diverging wings having medial notches II attheirspacedrnedialrearmargins. and an attachmentpart II which includes aweb It spanning the upper portion of the spacehetweensaidwingaandhavingarearwardlyoflset upper portion 2|, bentdownwardly in the form 'ofahandle ",endinginaspringtonrue adaptedtobeengagedatitstipll withtheouterwallof the bowl, co-operating withsaid web at to embrace said wall retentively at a region remote from therim II of the bowl, while said distal: portion fl rests upon said rim,thus limitingthe downward projection of the deflector into the bowl, sothat it will extend properly through the upper surface of the mix, andinto the space between the orbit of the beater i8 and the inner wall I!of the bowl.

In assembling the deflector with the bowl, thedeflectorisflrstclippedovertherimliofthe bowl in a hcrisontal positionindicated by the dotand-dash outline lti inl'ig. 1, and is then swunginto the vertical position Ill, from which it is pushed down, alongsideof the inner wall II of the howl, into its operating position Ii.

In operation, as the beater i3 revolves around thecentralvcrticalaxisofthebowl l2,inaclochwise direction, it rotates in acounter-clockwise directim at greater speed around its own axis, andproduces a wash in the batch which would continue to travel along theinside wall E2 of the bowl, were it not that the wash encounters thedeflector and derives therefrom a centripetal moment of force whichovercomes the moment of centrifugal force induced by the rotation and/org when a separately formed deflector is used, as

illustrated.

While the separately formed deflector is conside'red preferable, it isnot intended to exclude fran the province of the present invention theemployment of a deflector element of equivalent form and deflectingaction integral with the wall of the bowl, or as a permanent flxtumthereon.

80 also, the deflector element, of any suitable shspeand material, maybe mounted on the overhead support which carries the heater and, underfavorable conditions, may be caused te move in an orbit suitably relatedto that of the beater.

'lhebeater l8 isillustratedasawhipping device which may be desirablyfabricated of wire,

and may be of any desired form, as for example,oneoi'thesamegeneraltypedisclosedinthe above-mentioned De Hufl'application for Letters Patent. The invention has been found, inpractice,toyieldgreatlyincreased eiilciencyin the opgreaseserationofaverflealmixsrequippedwithsuaha,Ihceedeflectorscanbeused,ingenerai,inconnectionwithabowlofanysise,butsuchadeflectorisofparticularadvantsgewhenusedinabowlofrelstivelylsrgeshehsvinassyacapacity effromiioquartsandupward.

lnabowlodverylargesiaasayoffldoquart capacity, the use of two suchdeflectors has been found advantageous and it is possible that more thantwo could be used to advantage.

Thedeflectorhsebeenfoundtoaidintheincorpcatiomintoafoamstructuraofflourandotherdryihsredients,ifsuchbeused,forthedeflectingactienseemstohelpintheassimilationot the dry contents, since it apparently givesdirectiontothebatch,evenafterthebetchisvery nearly or completelyflnished.

This is, of course, very important, particularlywhenmakingsuchbatchesasthosedesignedforangelfoodcakesndspongecekainwhichitis imperative that the smallestpossible amount or agitation shall be used to incorporate the flnslflour, for too much agitation will toughen the flnished cake and affectits commercial value.

From the foregoing disclosure it will be ohserved that the deflectormeans, being generally wedgeshaped, increasing in width from bottom totop, hasafacedisposedatanengletotheinnerbowl wall, extending to an edgeremoved from said wall toward the upright axis of rotation of thebeater, and presents a broad deflecting surface protruding toward thebeaters periphery at the upper levels of the mix.

Accordingly, the deflector acts for a substantial portion of its lengthto deflect liquid particles of the mix tending to swirl outside the pathof the beater under the action of centrifugal force, so that saidparticles will be thereby returned into the beater somewhat near the topof the beater, whereby said particles are then impelled downward to thebottom of the bowl, thus imparting to the liquid being broken up acirculating motion having a vertical component, such directional effectcausing a combination of the centrifugal motion of the batch with theaction of the beater upon said re-directed portion of the batch for thepurpose of developing the liquid rapidly into a foam structure.

What is chimed is:

1. A batch-mixing machine of the type which includes a bowl adapted toreceive the ingredients of the mix, at least one of which issubstantially liquid; a heater device having a sup-port from which it isextended into said bowl through the upper surface of the mix, saidbeater working through the body of the mix at substantially all levels;and means to impart to said beater a rotary movement around its ownaxis, and a movement of translation in an orbit circumadjacent to, butspaced from, the inner wall of the bowl; said machine comprising, incombination with said bowl and heater, a deflector meanssupported inposition to intervene between the orbit of the beater and the innercircumference of the bowl, said deflector being generally wedge-shaped,increasing in width from bottom to top. having at least one facedisposed at an angle to the inner bowl wall and extending to an edgeremoved from said wall toward the upright axis of rotation of thebeater, so that the deflector presents e broad deflecting surfaceprotruding toward the beaters periphery at the upper levels of the xnix,acting for a substantial portion of its length to deflect' particles ofthe mix tending to swirl outside the path of the beater under theinfluence of centriiugal force, and thus said particles will be therebyreturned into the path of the beater somewhat near the top of thebeater, whereby said particles are then impelled downward to the bottomof the bowl, thus imparting to the liquid being broken up a circulatingmotion having a vertical component, such directional efl'ect cansing acombination of the centrifugal motion of the batch with the action ofthe beater upon said redirected portions of the batch for the purpose ofdeveloping the liquid rapidly into a foam structure.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a deflecting means for a mixingbowl, comprising an element adapted to intervene between an inner sidewall of the bowl and a heater operating therein, and to be engaged witha circumferential beater-inducedfiow of ingredients, said element beingwedgeshaped, decreasing in width from top to bottom and extending belowthe upper surface of the batch to be treated, acting to deflect saidflow into the path of the beater, while permitting orbital movement ofthe heater, so that said element causes the normal moment of centrifugalforce derived from said orbital movement of the beater to be combinedwith the action of said beater upon the redirected portions of the batchto impart a substantially vertical flow of the batch downward throughthe heater for the purpose of developing the liquid rapidly into foamstructure.

WALTER F. DEHUFF.

